366 Studies on the Pakeozoic Soils of North Wales 



and gravel are almost entirely Cambrian shale. It is very exceptional 

 in this area to find sedentary soils. Three soils have however been 

 examined which appeared to be products of the decomposition in situ 

 of the subjacent rock. These soils agriculturally and physically re- 

 sembled other soils in the vicinity and were accordingly classed with 

 them, although fuller work may place them in a separate class. 



The agriculture of this district varies according to the altitude. In 

 the lowlands the farming, as far as cultivation is concerned, resembles 

 that in Anglesey, except that rather less cattle and more sheep are 

 kept. In the uplands the holdings which are generally small are 

 almost entirely in grass. Along the northern part of the area from 

 Bangor to Conway this fringe of small grass holdings lying above the 

 lowland farms is absent. Along the western foothills however there is 

 an important belt of small grass farms. The small fields with their 

 Cyclopean walls of lichen covered stones form a striking feature of the 

 landscape. It is not uncommon to see fields of half an acre enclosed 

 by massive walls five or six feet in height. When it is realised that the 

 stones were removed from the land when it was reclaimed from the 

 Avaste, a good idea is obtained of the nature of the soil of these foothills. 



Since the soils of this category scarcely form a uniform type no 

 useful purpose will be served by giving average analyses of all the soils 

 examined. On inspecting the results, however, it appears that certain 

 soils can be grouped together. Four sub-types have been thus obtained. 

 A is the average of eight soils, jnainly from South Carnarvonshire but 

 including three from the north of the county. All the soils of this sub- 

 type with one exception are from the best class of Carnarvonshire 

 farms. B is the average of three soils apparently much less fertile 

 than the A sub-type and lying at a greater altitude. C is the average 

 of three sedentary soils in the Bangor district, one from quartz por- 

 phyry and the other two from a Pre-Cambrian metamorphic rock. 

 These sedentary soils are equal in fertility to those of the A sub-type. 

 D is the average of three soils from the poorly cultivated district lying 

 due south of Carnarvon in the foothills of the central mountain system. 

 The D soils are mainly composed of local igneous material. In A and 

 B sedimentary material predominates. 



The average analyses are shown in the general table. 



No calcium carbonate is found in the soils of this series examined 

 up to the present. The only points to be noted are the high proportions 

 of fine gravel, particularly in sub-type C, the high potash and phosphoric 

 acid figures in sub-type C, and the low potash figures in sub-type D. 



